b"Organic OpportunitiesWhile organic potato growers areAT KROEKER FARMS in southern Manitoba theyve been seeing increased demand, theresgrowing potatoes for decades, but in the early 2000s they noticed interest in spuds was starting to dip. Fad low carb diets like still a lot of issues to contend withAtkins had people shying away from eating potatoes. in the industry.Wayne Rempel had just become CEO of the potato farm and started looking for new opportunities for their spuds.BY: ASHLEY ROBINSONSome of the younger people in our company and some of our shareholders said, Hey, why don't you do organic? And so, we started organic productionour first year was 2002, he says in a phone interview.At the start they converted their poorest fields to organic production. With the three years it takes to transition to organics and gain certification, they didnt want to risk losing out on any production with their better fields.In essence, our first many years of organic conversion and production of potatoes was on our poor soil. Since then, we've A field of flowering organic potatoes at Hakkers Organics in Newtown Cross, P.E.I. PHOTO: HAKKERS ORGANICS6SPUDSMART.COM Winter 2023"